Battle of the Realms: A Minecraft story
by Baileyice207
Summary: Maya is a princess, her father's kingdom has been peaceful her whole life but her perfect life comes crashing down when the Nether king threatens her father. Will her fathers once peaceful kingdom be at war? Or will her father agree to the Nether kings wishes? With the help of a peasant girl, will Maya save her kingdom or will it be doomed to fall at the hands of the Nether king?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Maya opened her eyes; the rising morning sun was streaming in from her large window. She blinked, dazed, by the sun in her eyes. She sat up and walked across the smooth stone floor to her large window and looked out across her father's kingdom.

People were walking up and down the many paths connecting the houses, bakeries, blacksmiths, and other numerous shops. The valley looked breathtaking at this time of the morning.

From here, she could see the knights preparing horses for their rounds, and the guards coming from their lower houses farther down the valley, to take the morning shift. She could even see way down in the rockiest part, at the foot of mountains, where peasant houses were snuggled in the rock.

The peasant children were running around down there and the men were heading to the mine for work.

Further up the path, the guard's crooked wooden houses were busy. With the children running to school, and the women socializing as they hung up the washing and either greeted there husbands coming back from work, or said goodbye as the left for work.

Shopkeepers stone two story houses were just above, in the grassy part of the mountains. The shopkeepers were busy heading off to their various shops and the younger children skipped happily to school. Some of the older children rode there family's horses to the school house.

Anything above near the valleys top was where the nobles lived and the shops were there as well. With their large, bright, stone brick houses and the noble children in bright clothing riding in their family's carriage to the school house.

Some of the older, noble children went to the collage and wore royal blue robes to show that they were apprentices of the collage and were to be respected. You had to be very good in your studies to attend and sometimes even the royals themselves did not get accepted into the collage.

Her thoughts went to her older brother who was attending the collage and was probably getting ready to go there now, he had resigned himself from the being second in line for the throne and was training to become a professor. Her father was a bit upset when her brother had told him he wanted to resign, but at the same time, proud of his son.

Even if something happened to her eldest brother, the crown prince, then he still had his third son to rule. He even had her, his daughter and the youngest to rule if worst came to worst. Though he was always telling her, from when she was little that when she grew up, ruling the kingdom would not be her job, which, she never doubted considering the three brothers before her.

Her mother died when she was two, giving birth to a fifth child who was going to be her younger brother, he lived for two days before dying as well. Try as she might she could only remember a few things about her mother, she knew the way she looked because of a portrait of her smiling in the great hall. Sometimes Maya thought she could remember her laugh or her voice but it could be of her imagination. Her father told her that her mother sounded and looked like her and that her mother had been a great queen but that is about all he would say. Her brothers told her a few things about her mother but they were young too, when she had died.

A knock on the door made Maya start, she looked at the sun and realized that it had risen fully and it was time for her to get up. Her maid walked in.

"Up early again my lady, I see," She said with a bit of disapproving in her voice. "a princess need her rest."

"I had plenty of sleep, Grace" Maya said, reassuring her. "I was just looking at the beautiful morning it is today."

"Yes, I am sure it is," Grace answered rather huffily as she set out Maya's breakfast. "I haven't been able to see much at all this morning. She muttered, thinking Maya couldn't hear.

"What was that?" She asked.

"Nothing," Grace said hurriedly. And that was Grace for you. She had been Maya's servant since she was seven and though she seemed like resentful and miserable old lady, it was just part of her personality to pretend that she has it so bad and everyone else has it better than her.

Maya sat down to eat as Grace began to make her bed. "What do I have to do today?" Maya asked.

"Well, other than your studies," Grace began. "You _get_ to have lunch with your father and brothers, you _get_ to oversee the decorations for you brothers coming of age ball tonight, you _get _to have the final fitting for your ball gown and you _get_ to attend the ball." She said, empathizing each "get" because Maya had asked "what do I _have_ to do today". "Thank you for that Grace." Maya said exasperatedly.

"Of course, my lady" Grace said, smiling, because she had proved her point.

Character change

Jade woke to the sound of a chicken squawking nervously in the coop. Her heart squeezed tightly in her chest. Please don't be a creeper again she thought and slowly stood up and walked to the window that faced the chicken coop. She sighed in relief; it was just a zombie that would soon burn in the sun rise. It gave a low moan and stared at her through the window, trying to find a way to the door were it could pound against until either the daylight killed it or Jade got impatient with it and killed it herself.

She sat back down on her lumpy straw mattress and watched the sun as it began to rise; she looked down at the street as it wound around the small peasant rock houses. Her eyes following the path until it started to climb up the mountain and she could only see glimpses of it on its way to the palace.

She heard a singeing noise and looked over to where the zombie was burning, still in its last moments of life trying to get to her, pounding mercilessly at the door as his very flesh was burning away. She watched as it burned to nothing but a small piece of rotten flesh. It was almost safe to go outside now, she knew, from years of experience of living in the darkest part of the mountain.

She heard her father shift and snort in his bed, mumbling something. Jade wrinkled her nose at the sight of him as he stumbled up and walked to the water bucket. He stunk from last nights outing at the tavern, as he often did after a tough day mining. He had stumbled in last night as drunk as could be and kept her up, singing songs and stinking everything up. He gulped down water from his cup, spilling all over himself in the process. He drained their water bucket easily and turned toward her. "Go fill this! By the way your just starin' into space it seems like you got nothin' better to do anyway." He said, handing her the empty bucket.

"Fine," She replied and took to bucket, "Anything to get out of your smell." She said as she half ran out the door only stopping to quickly grab her stone sword that lay on the table next to the door. Her father yelled something after her but Jade didn't care, she knew she shouldn't have said it and that she would probably pay for it too, but the wind felt good on her cheeks as she raced to the river to fill the bucket and for now she was out of that mess.

She heard the unmistakable sound of footsteps and looked back seeing a burning skeleton aiming his bow at her. She ducked behind a tree and waited. After a few seconds, she peeked out and saw a pile of bones where the skeleton had been and grinned, before resuming her run to the river, not bothering to collect the bones.

The river came down from the mountains and ran through the valley, in many different streams and brooks. Her house was near the largest section of the river, which was helpful because when it was warm, she could go fishing and collect some of the largest fish in the valley. She bent down at the stream and filled the bucket, with the sweet, cool, water.

Jade jealously watched the knights come down from the palace and head to plains for their morning patrol. Jade had wanted to be a knight for as long as she could remember, she trained herself with her sword as best she cold, fighting with the boys that had the same dream as her. She knew she had to be a noble and that there were very few knights that were girls but, she thought if she could get a job in the king's guard she might prove that she could fight as well as any noble or boy.

The sun had fully risen now and Jade knew she had better head home to her chores of tending to the animals but now that the adrenaline had worn off, she was afraid of what her father might say to her. She stood up and headed slowly to her house.


	2. Chapter 2

_Authors note: Hello everyone! This is my first fan fiction ever. I hope you all are enjoying! I will try and post at least a chapter a week maybe even two or three if I am not too busy. Anyway, thanks everyone who has taken time to read my story!_

The midday sun shone brightly across the path as Jade trudged up to the market to sell her chickens eggs. She had been lucky, as her father had only yelled for a few minutes before he had to head to the mine to work. She hoped that would be the end of it.

It was nearing fall but she was hot and sweating by the time she reached the shady streets of the shopkeeper's houses. She reached the market street and headed to her stall at the far end of it.

Sellers were shouting out prices and products to the people milling about. This was where the shopkeepers got most of their goods for their shops, so there were plenty of shopkeepers around. She began to set up at her stall, "Alex!" Jade yelled, spotting the head of the guard. His head whipped around and seeing Jade he scowled. Jade waved him over and he walked sullenly to her stall. "Hey!" Jade said, trying to be bright. "What have you been up too?"

He sighed, "Hi, Jade. I have been busy. What about you?" He said in a bored voice, as if he had said this hundreds of times before, and he had.

"Been busy too, just training and stuff, I think I figured out a new trick to disarm your opponents. Do you want me to show you-"

"Jade, I am sure I have already learned what ever you want to show me, either that or there is a more efficient way to do it." Alex said, cutting her off.

"Right but this is a little-"

"Jade." He said, staring at her disapprovingly, which made her quiet down, she hated when people made her feel like a child.

"I was just wondering, if there are any openings this week?" Jade dared to ask.

"None, as usual, for little girls," Alex said. "Is that all? Because today is an extremely busy day for us guards and you are keeping me from doing my job."

"What job?" Jade asked, curious to know.

"We have many important guests arriving today; it's my job to make sure they get here safely."

"Guests? Like who?"

"Are you oblivious to everything around you?" He asked, waving his hands in frustration. "The guests, you know, for the prince's coming of age ball tonight!"

"Oh, that's tonight?" Jade asked.

"Yes!" He said, clearly frustrated. "Have you not noticed the colored flags strung from nearly every house? This is a celebration!"

"No, sorry I didn't think anything of the colored flags." Jade said, crossing her arms because she was getting annoyed at him for thinking she could even care about the celebration, after all, she wasn't invited to the ball and neither was he.

"Well, it's not like we have the flags up every day." He said, "But I really do have to go now, I will see you later. Or shall I say next week, when you ask me again; if there are any openings, little girl." Alex added pointedly and stalked off into the crowd.

"Seventeen is hardly little." Jade muttered at Alex's disappearing figure. She sighed and began to join in with the rest of the voices, shouting to the customers.

(Character change)

The dress was tight fitting and pinching Maya at the waist.

"It's a little tight here." She said pointing at the spotted that pinched.

"Oh, yes but my lady it's supposed to be." The seamstress argued as she had with all the other tight fitting spots. "It shows off you shape very well. Its time you started wearing more womanly dresses, after all, you are nearly sixteen and of marrying age."

"And I suppose that is the reason for this as well." She said running my fingers over the low cut collar of the dress.

"Yes my lady." the seamstress said, nodding as she stuck pins in the long swooping skirt. The whole dress seemed a bit too much to Maya but so were most of her dresses. It was a deep red with long sweeping sleeves that nearly touched the floor, with a silk collar embedded with jewels. The bodice was tight and the corset she wore underneath was even tighter. (She was used to the tightness of the corsets though, as she had been wearing them for a long time.) The skirt was huge and she wore a hoop of wire to keep it in shape, it was long and made her look taller than she really was.

"There," The seamstress said as she tied a big satin bow around Maya's waist. "Finished,"

"You are most definitely going to be the talk of the ball." One of the seamstress's maidens said."

"As she usually is," The seamstress said.

"Indeed," replied the maiden. "You look just like a Princess should."

"Well thank you," Maya said. "But I hope every ones attention is on my brother tonight, it is his ball, not mine."

"Oh course," the maiden said quickly. "I only meant that you will surly be the most lovely lady there."

"Thank you, it is appreciated." Maya replied, because whether she wanted to be or not she would most likely be the talk of the ball. All the ladies would be wondering what dress she would be wearing, what color it was, and if it looked like theirs.

All the noble and royal families would be presenting their sons and she would have to dance with anyone who asked her. "At least my brothers are in the same boat." She thought, they too, would have to be presented to and by the noble and royal families and have to dance with anyone that wished to. And Luke will have it worst, because it was his party.

"That will be all, my lady." The seamstress said. "I will make a few more stitches and send it down to your chamber before the ball."

"Thank you." Maya said, glad she could finally step off the stool.

She hurried out, as quickly as she could and still be respectful, and walked to her room where hopefully, she could get a hot bath and maybe something to eat before the ball tonight.

She turned down a hallway and nearly collided with her brother, James. "Goodness! Where did you come from?" He exclaimed.

"Sorry, I didn't see you." Maya said,

"You were practically running down the hall!" He said. "You could have hurt someone."

"Well you were walking fast too," She said, annoyed at her brother for acting like this was some huge problem. "Did you have somewhere you wanted to get too? Or maybe get _away_ from?

He blushed. "No! I just-"

"You just were eager to get out of you pvp training. Weren't you?" She asked, smirking at him.

"No!" He said again, scowling. "What I was going to say is that I wanted to do some studying before the ball and I was hurrying because I wanted to get it done, not because I wanted to get out of training. My studies are very important you know." He said, giving her a pointed stare before whipping his blue collage robes past her and stalking off.

She just shook her head, and sighed before setting down the hall at a much slower pace. James never like pvp, he never had and even though he had given up his crown rights, her father had still insisted he keep up with it. She knew James would never be a great warrior for the kingdom and go on great quests to the Nether and the End. No, that was definitely Luke or Nathan. Who enjoyed their training and were both talented warriors that would be some of the greatest warriors of their kingdom. Luke had already lead many quest in the Nether and might soon be venturing into the End and Nathan had lead most of the quests here in the Overworld and in a year or two would be venturing into the Nether.

Maya herself had had some training, though, not as much as her brothers. She attended weekly pvp sessions and they attended daily ones. She was an alright warrior, she thought it might be amazing to one day lead the quests into the Nether and the End, and tried to train any time she could, but of course it was not "proper" for a princess to execute herself in that way. She still hoped that by the time she had her coming of age ball she might be a part of the quests.

Maya opened the door to her chambers to find Grace already boiling water for her bath.

"Good, I was hoping you would be starting that." Maya said as she flung herself on to a chair at the table and started to nibble at some of the grapes at the table.

"Good afternoon, my lady." Grace replied. "I hope everything went well this afternoon with decorating the ball room and then later at your fitting."

Maya groaned, remembering the long task of decorating the ball room, people asking her "What color should this be?" "Is it alright if we put this there?" and, "What do you think about this?"

"It was fine." She said sourly.

"Well," Grace said pouring scent into the bath tub before wiping her hands on her apron and standing with her hands on her hips in front of Maya. "I hope you mood improves before the ball because no one is going to want to dance with you when your acting like that."

"I'm sure I just need a bath, Grace." Maya said, standing up and stepping behind her screen to undress. "Thanks for the bath."

"Of course, my lady," replied Grace. "See you in about in hour to help you get ready." Grace said, shutting the door softly behind her.


	3. Chapter 3

_Authors note: Hello everyone! Chapter three! Oh and just thanking __**le meiller rose**__ for being the first to write a review! I know things have been pretty boring but hopefully this chapter will be more interesting._

Chapter 3

Maya sat in front of the mirror in her bedroom watching, as Grace put the cold gold tiara on her head. It sat there among the soft, dark ringlets that Grace had painstakingly rolled for her after her bath.

"You look lovely." Grace said, admirably tucking a strand of hair behind her ear in a motherly way.

"Thank you, Grace," Maya said standing up and facing Grace. "You did a wonderful job on my hair tonight."

Grace smiled. "I did my best, but you have better get going; we can't have the princess being late."

Maya nodded.

"Would you like me to walk you down?" Grace asked.

"No that's alright." Maya said walking toward the door. "Have a good night Grace." Maya said and left, walking towards the sound of music coming from the ball room.

She rounded a corner humming softly to the song playing; a dark shape jumped out from behind her and clamped a hand to her mouth. She panicked, kicking back at whoever was holding her. She got her attacker's finger in her mouth and bit down, hard.

"Ouch!" A familiar voice said. Maya whipped her head around glaring at her brother, who was sucking on his finger where she bit him and grinning.

"You!" She said and smacked him on his shoulder.

"Whoa, no need for that," He said putting his hands up in a mock surrender. "You already bit me remember." He teased, wagging his finger at her, his blue eyes dancing.

"Luke!" She exclaimed. "You scared me half to death. I thought-"

"You thought I was an assassin coming to steal you away on the night of your brother's ball! How awful," He said sarcastically. Maya crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him.

"We should go." She said turning on her heel and walking down the hall.

"Oh right the party," Luke said catching up to her. "No need to walk so fast, or are you really that eager to go dance with a bunch of strangers that want to marry you?" He asked, walking beside her. She slowed and smiled.

"Not really, no." She replied and sighed,

"Hey," He said. "At least the food is good." And with that, they had arrived at the open doors of the dining hall.

Though they were early, most of the people invited were already standing by, or seated at tables. "Here we go." He muttered, just loud enough for her to hear, as they walked in, towards their seats at the longest table in the center of the room. People watched respectfully and nodded or bowed slightly, depending on their rank.

Maya took her seat next to Luke, across from Nathan's (Nathan is the youngest of her brothers) seat, which was empty. James was there already though, which wasn't a surprise as he was always early. He sat across from Luke and her Father would sit at the head, with Luke on his right side and James at his left.

Nathan arrived getting the same nods and small bows and took his seat. Nathan leaned in so that his siblings could here him and whispered,

"I didn't know King Markus was coming, did any of you?" He asked. Luke and Maya shook their heads.

"Well, I did," Said James. "Didn't you read the invitations?" James asked like it was the most obvious thing to do. Even though Maya was pretty sure no one ever paid much attention to the invitations.

"I thought I did but it's kind of hard to notice one king out of the few million that were invited." Nathan said defensively.

"Yes, well it's been a three week journey for him and we should be honored to have him here," Said James. "He and his son plan on staying for at least a week."

"His son?" Maya asked." James nodded.

"He is twenty, nearly ready to take the throne for his kingdom."

"Wonderful." She muttered sarcastically because this meant her father would probably insist she spent time with this boy while he was here. And from her past experiences it wasn't something she was looking forward too.

A hush fell over the room and she looked up to see her father entering through the doors. The people sitting quickly stood up, including Maya, and the people standing stayed that way. He smiled at the people as he walked to his seat and he stood there.

"I would like to thank everyone for coming to this wonderful celebration for my wonderful son," Her father said putting a hand on Luke's shoulder. "My firstborn has grown into a man and tonight we celebrate! I can hardly believe he is twenty-one." He finished raising his glass in the air and drinking before sitting down. Everyone followed his example and toasted to her brother before sitting.

The dinner was incredibly boring; the only thing Maya found amusing was watching some of the knights drink themselves silly and having to be excused from the dinning room. Her father was enjoying himself tremendously; some of his dearest friends had come from all over the Overworld, braving the journey to come and celebrate.

Among those friends was king Markus and his son, they were sitting at a table across from Maya's. She knew they lived in a wooded biome way west of here and that they were close friends of her family but she didn't remember ever meeting them. She caught glimpses of his son, William, and saw that he had light brown hair and from what she could tell, handsome features. Still, this did not make her particularly excited about spending time with him; she had met plenty of handsome princes who were snobby and rude.

Dinner ended, not soon enough for Maya and they were escorted to the ballroom to dance.

(A perspective.)

The Man sat on his throne, impatient with his scheming. A boy stood next to him ready to do whatever the man asked, the boy was the man's son, though, you could hardly call him a boy.

A dark figure walked in, with long muscular arms and a snout-like nose. His eyes were wicked, if you could even call it a he, they gleamed when he bowed low to the ground at the Mans feet.

"The portal is ready, my lord." The figure said, in a deep grunting voice. The Man smiled; seemingly pleased at the news the figure had given him.

"And you were not seen?" The Man asked.

"They don't suspect a thing." The figure said, he too smiling, a gruesome awful smile but a smile none the less.

"Then my son," The man said turning towards the boy, "We have a ball to go to."

_Okay! End of chapter! I was just hoping to get the first three chapters up as soon as possible so now that I have, things will be slowing a bit. Unless I have an urge to write of course, which is highly possible. Thank you again if you are reading this because that means you have (hopefully) read my story too! -Bailey_


	4. Chapter 4

_Hello everybody! Thank you so much to my two reviewers and for the two favorites! When you review it keeps motivated to keep writing, that I know someone is actually reading the story, ya know? Also a note on the character Jade, she will not be in the next couple of chapters but I have not forgotten about her, I will write from her point of view soon but for now it is mostly Maya. Okay, now read on!_

.

Chapter 4

William was dancing with a girl who said her name was Lady Lidia. She was talking to him non-stop, as she had been for the past two dances. He had been hoping that someone else would offer to dance with her but he feared that people knew what he had not, Lady Lidia, was quite a chatter box. She was talking about the food they served in the dinning hall or something, he wasn't really sure. He was trying to focuses on dancing, before he came here he had only a few weeks to learn the dances in this kingdom and he was regretting not taking the lessons more seriously.

He had been here before, when he was younger though, and there wasn't any dancing. He remembered he, his father, and his mother had come. He was just six at the time. He wore black, and even though there were three other boys to play with he wasn't allowed, it was the day of the queens funeral. It had been a long journey there and after staying just a few days, a long journey back. Since then his father has visited a few times but William had not visited until now, fourteen years later.

He led Lidia in a wide circle as the other dancers circled with them and the song ended, he let go of her.

"It's been fun but I am going to get a drink now." Lidia said, smiling and heading to the tables were there were refreshments.

"Alright," William muttered, not really sure what to do now and standing there rather awkwardly, looking for someone to dance with. His eyes fell on a girl wearing a long red dress, talking to a knight. She had dark brown hair, and deep blue eyes. She was laughing at something and her tiara glinted in the light. "Oh, her tiara," he thought, something in his head clicking. "So that is princess Maya." His father had told him all about her, probably in hopes that something might happen between him and her. "Well, a dance wouldn't hurt." He thought stepping towards were she was standing.

"Sorry to interrupt." He said to the knight talking with Maya. "But may I have this dance?" He asked bowing low and offering his hand.

"Of course," She answered, curtseying and bidding goodbye to the knight before taking Williams hand. He led her to the dance floor, slightly nervous. Placing one hand on her back and holding her hand in his other, they began a simple waltz-like dance.

"You're Prince William, of Feridith Forest, right?" She asked staring up at him.

"Yes," He answered. "And you're Princess Maya of the kingdom Elowyn." She smiled, "That's me."

"From what I've seen of it, your kingdom is lovely," William said, turning her in a circle, I am hoping I will be able to see more of it before I leave."

"I am sure that can be arranged," Maya said facing him again. "We have very nice horse trails that lead all over the city."

"You mean you would show me?" He asked, hoping that she would.

She laughed, her eyes twinkling, "Only if you want me too."

"I think I'd like that," he said, caught up in her eyes, so he stepped the wrong way, stumbling.

"Sorry, sorry." He said trying to straighten himself and find the right steps again.

"It's alright." She said. "Still learning?"

"Yes," He said, embarrassed.

She laughed softly at his attempt to put his feet back together. "Let me show you," She said, "Step backwards, good, now-." The doors of the ball room opened with a slam as they were pushed back on there hinges, hitting the wall. People jumped back in surprise and got out of the way, gasping as two figures walked. William instinctively drew his sword and faced the figures, as did most all the guards and knights. His lips parted in surprise, it was the king of the Nether.

(Character change)

Maya stumbled back in astonishment, was it really him, the king of the Nether? She was shocked, no one had heard from him since the Last Battle and everyone stayed away from his fortress in fear.

Her father's voice rang out in the now silent hall. "What do you think you're doing? You know you are not welcome here," He said, walking with his sword up towards the King.

"Now, now, now," the king said holding up is hand. "We heard there was going to be a celebration, Gareth, so we thought we would come."

"There is no celebration for you." Luke said bitterly, joining her father with his sword raised towards the king. "Why have you really come?"

"Well, if you insist on being so hurried, and you're sure you don't want to have something to drink, then there is something, a must propose to you."

"Get on with it if you must," Said her father gritting his teeth.

The King grinned, showing nasty, yellow teeth. "You see, my son here," He said making a gesture toward a boy who looked about eighteen, that stood next to him. He and his father were dressed alike both wearing black leather armor and both had dark hair. The boy's hair was long, hanging in front of his eyes, he stayed silent, and had his hands clasped in front of him while his father talked. "My son," He continued. "Is somewhat bored in our realm, he wishes to see what it's like up here, he wants to _live_ here."

"Never," Said Luke darkly.

"Wait, let me finish," said the king. "Really, your boy is so impatient, Gareth. Anyway; I told him he could, and that I knew just the place, you see, not only does my son want to live here, he wants to _rule_ here. Quite literally here in fact, your kingdom, to start with anyway, how is he going to do it? Well, that's quite simply really, your sons," They king said gesturing to each prince as he said they're name. "Luke, James and Nathan, I believe are their names are, are going to give up their rights to the throne-."

"You know I would never agree to such things," Her father said, his voice shaking in anger. "It will be _my _blood that rules this kingdom, not, your monster of a son."

"Again, your not letting me finish." The king said. "It _will_ be your blood ruling, your daughter." He turned to Maya, his cold, black eyes bearing into her. "My son will marry her,"

"You leave now and never come back!" Her father said now advancing toward the king, "Leave now, or I will kill you and your son."

"I am afraid it won't be that easy," The king said shaking his head. "You will agree with my terms or I will burn your kingdom to the ground and take it that way."

"That's it," Luke said and charged toward the king his sword raised and ready to strike.

The king heaved a sigh at the sight of Luke coming toward him. "You have until next week, to tell me your decision." And he and his son disappeared in a haze of purple.

_._

_Done! I don't really know what to say here, oh! Prince William, I just realized that he has the same name as Prince William from the England. Yes, that was an accident but I am not changing it, so Prince William it is! Also thank you again __**mindblank, le meilleur rose, and SilentlyxRandom **__for reviewing/favorite-ing my story. Please review__**! **__I would love your feedback! _


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello, thank you to all who are reading my story! I love it when you review, so please do! How did you feel about the last chapter? Was it suspenseful? I tried to make a cliffhanger. Tell me. __ For now, on with the story!_

Chapter 5

Maya felt cold, the kings words echoed loudly in her head. She was vaguely aware of the commotion going on inside the ball room, her father's voice telling the people to remain calm, and Luke's voice shouting orders to the knights and guards. Someone was pulling her out of the ballroom and through the corridors to her chamber. Not someone, she realized, but guards and a couple knights. They took her to her room, where she sat numbly on her bed. A knight told her something that she wasn't paying enough attention to hear before he shut the door, leaving her alone.

After what felt like hours of the king's words still reverberating in her head, a knight entered her room,

"Maya?" He asked, sounding unsure. She snapped out of her stupor and looked up at him.

"Mathew." She breathed in relief, glad of a familiar face. Mathew was Nathan's best friend and Mathew's family was one of the closest noble families to hers. She had been talking to him at the ball before she had been asked to dance by William. "Is anyone hurt?" Maya asked, suddenly embarrassed for being so absent minded, she hadn't even thought about her brothers and her father who were probably not sitting on their bed right now being babysat by a knight.

"Not unless you count brief blindness and weakness potions used on the guards posted outside the ballroom." He answered sitting down on the bed beside her. "Luke has sent the majority of the knights to scout for the portal they used to cross over. No luck yet. You're father is reassuring the people, he wants to double the kingdoms guard and in the morning they will start hiring people for it."

Maya just nodded. There was some muffled argument going on outside her door. Grace came bursting in, pushing off guards,

"I am her maid! For Notch's sake,"

"Its okay let her be." Maya said to the guards, and they nodded and shut the doors. Grace walked over to where Maya was sitting with Mathew and crossed her arms,

"Just what do you think you're doing?" She asked Mathew, "A knight in the princesses' room, at this hour! I understand this is an emergency, but you can guard her just as well outside her door with the rest of them!"

Mathews face flushed, he stood up and after bidding Maya goodnight, left quite quickly.

"He is a friend, he was just sitting with me," Maya started to argue, but she was mostly just relived to have Grace there.

"Yes, but you need a strong cup of tea and sleep, not a friend." Grace said, starting to fill a kettle with water. Grace put the kettle on and sat at the edge of the bed, brushing Maya's hair into a braid.

It's going to be alright," She was saying. "You don't need to be afraid; your father won't let you marry him." Maya turned towards Grace, overcome with emotion she had been trying not to feel, tears pooled in her eyes, she felt scared.

"It's not me I am afraid for, it's the kingdom."

_Okay, short chapter I know, but it's not quite over! You know how I mentioned The Last Battle in chapter four? Well I wanted to give you guys some insight on it, so hear it is;_

**30 years before:**

**That's it, we had won. A man closed his eyes, listening, voices rang out in victory cries, but it still didn't drown out the memories of the long weeks where all you would hear was the cries of the dying or the moans of the ones that were already dead. The Nether king was defeated; he could go back to his house of horrors and never attack the Overworld again. The man stared at the landscape before him, and tried not to look at the bodies of soldiers being taken to the fields to bury or the sobbing children, huddled against their mourning mothers. He tried not to watch as an uncontrollable flame burned nearly half the houses in the kingdom, tried not to choke on the scorching air. "It was a cruel world to live in." The man thought. He thought of his family, his father was dead, his mother wounded but alive, and his brother, Gareth, he was safe at least. Too young to fight, Gareth had survived and so the crown did too. "I am nearly ready now," He thought, resting on the soft, ashy ground. His eyes found the sun as it rose. He laid there, a prince, ready for death to take him. **

_End of chapter! I do hope you enjoyed! Also, I don't know if you caught that but the last paragraph was about Maya's Uncle, King Gareth's brother. Anyway, I would so love feedback, guys! I can take a little criticism. __ Please do tell me watch you think! I love the reviews!_

_Over and out! -Bailey_


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello! I know it has been a few days since the last chapter! Real life has been keeping me busy. The point is I have a new chapter for you awesome people, so read on!_

Chapter 6

The morning was dull and cloudy as if it was mirroring the kingdoms feelings. Jade walked down the path to her house, battling with her own feelings. Her new sword knocking gently against her leg in a sheath on the belt she had been given for joining the guard. Now that they were desperate they had finally let her join and whenever she looked down at the smooth handle, she couldn't help but to feel excited. She had an iron sword! Never had she ever wielded such a balanced weapon. Her homemade stone sword was nothing compared to this iron one. She was ecstatic, she could have spent hours sharpening and polishing it. That is, until she remembered under what circumstances she had the sword and what she would have to do with it. When that happened she got a scared twisting knot in her stomach, not that Jade would ever admit it to anyone but she was afraid of battle. Mostly she was afraid of what lives would be lost, she had been dreaming of this moment forever but she was realizing that it might not be all winning and glory.

She would have her first training session today, and one tomorrow morning before she could take her first shift. Of course it would just be guarding the castle she wasn't a knight yet. A knight! The very thought sent shivers through her! She could just imagine being one of the bravest warriors on the battlefield, the battlefield. Her spirits sank again and the knot returned, this went on for some time.

(Character change)

Maya combed through hair and began pinning it up; she had given Grace some time off, knowing Grace had a couple sons she might want to be with for a while. Maya was also feeling ashamed, she had done nothing but acted like a child last night, letting herself just sit on her bed, completely out of it while everyone else was doing something useful. She had sobbed herself to sleep and Grace had rocked her gently, letting her cry into her blouse. No, Maya was done crying, she was sure of that. Her father had called for a war council and she was attending, not as a weepy child but an adult. She knew the whole kingdom was preparing for the worst, for war. She hoped they could find a way around it. She left quickly for the council, walking through the corridors to the war council room.

She arrived a few minutes later in the council room, unlike the large open one for public council, this one was smaller, though still quite big but darker with one window on a wall. When not in use, it required a key to get in. A long table was in the center and all along the walls were large bookcases with scrolls and history books on previous wars.

Her father sat at the head of the table, with her brothers on his right side and on the left were the members of the council looking over a map with her father. The head night, Darius, was there as well as Mathew's father and a few other people with varying roles of importance.

Maya took her place beside her brothers and watched as the last few people trickled in, filling up all the seats at the table. Maya's father raised his head and spoke.

"As you all know we are gathered here today under the threat of war. The ruler of the Nether has threatened to burn Elowyn to the ground unless we agree to his outlandish terms. I will now tell you the terms, he wishes my sons, the ones who still have rights to the throne, to give up their title and crown. Then he plans on having my daughter wed his son, resulting in his son ruling Elowyn." Her father paused, looking at the people seated around him. The ones who had not attended the ball looked wide eyed and shocked and the ones who had were shaking their heads and muttering angrily.

"He says we have a week to agree to his terms." Her father continued, "I have thought about it and I believe the best course of action is to refuse his terms and prepare for war." Her father's last words were not spoken with anger or fury but simply as if telling them that he would like his eggs without cheese for breakfast. Despite his transparent voice, his last words caused a murmur of angry agreement at the table. Maya was stunned, "That's it? No second thought?" She asked. People looked towards her in surprise, as if for the first time realizing she was there,

"War is our only option?"

"Unless you wish to give in to the Nether king," Luke replied, glaring at her.

"There has to be another way! We need to talk about this, discuss our options."

"There is no other option, Maya," Her father said, turning his blue eyes on her. "Or do you have any ideas?"

Maya's cheeks grew warm and she cursed herself silently. "Well, I-I no, but maybe someone else did," Maya glanced hopefully around at the people seated at the table. Her father waited a minute his eyebrows raised, he too waiting for someone to say something. No one spoke, it was quiet, and Maya looked down no longer sitting up, proud and ready to be an adult. "Stupid, stupid, stupid" she thought, chiding herself. She had thought that someone, anyone would have had a solution, the thought never occurred to her that she should have been the one with the idea.

Her father cleared his throat, "Well, if no one has any ideas let us get on with the war plans."

Luke began, "If I may," He said to her father, her father nodded. "We have scouted for the portal but we haven't had any luck, it seems it would to have been in the castle because of how quickly they left but we haven't found it."

Maya felt the eyes that had been watching her shift to focus on her brother.

"We know that they didn't use the palace portal as those are constantly watched and the guards guarding them hadn't seen anything and didn't have any traces of potion effects." Her brother went on. "We decided they must have had a temporary portal set up inside the castle and as soon as they left, it was broken. By who, we don't now but for now we need to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity as there probably is a spy somewhere within the castle. Tomorrow we begin to interview any suspects including all the servants that were there that night."

Darius spoke, "I hate to say it but could be possible that one of the kings that were invited could be alleys of the Nether king?"

Her father shifted. "I would not like to think that anyone of my friends would betray me like that, and so until we have interviewed suspects they remain completely suspect free."

Darius nodded.

"How did they escape the ball room itself so quickly?" Asked a council member named Fabian. "All a saw was a purple film where they used to be standing."

"That, I believe I have figured out." Said Dill, one of the oldest and respected council members, "They used the device called an Ender pearl, which is used by Endermen to teleport. You throw it, wait a few seconds, and you appear wherever you threw the pearl, my guess is that they had a few of those and got to their portal faster than any knight could on his feet, thus, giving whoever broke the portal more time to break it." Maya nodded, she knew Endermen where found occasionally in the Overworld and though she had never seen one she had read about them in her studies.

"That would explain it," said Nathan, "Which means that they would have had to come here though right? I mean to kill the Endermen so they could get the pearls."

Dill, nodded. "Unless, they went to the end and convinced the Ender king to give him some."

"I wonder if anyone saw them, I mean it could have been the spy that got them, if they did come here that is." Nathan said.

"Doubtful," said Luke, "If they did come here they would have been very careful not to look suspicious. So if someone did see them, they probably would have thought it was just another villager, battling an Enderman. It is a pretty common sight."

"So we have no way of knowing who the spy was unless someone saw them in the castle." Nathan said

"Right, which comes back to interviewing people." Luke agreed. Everyone quieted,

"How are we going to protect the castles portal?" Asked Mathew breaking the silence, and they began to debate, and that is how the council went for hours.

(Character change)

Jade was tired of beating the old men in her training group. They were all poor peasant farmers or miners and had obviously never held a sword before in their life. All the new guards had been put into different groups based on how skilled the head guards thought they were. Jade, being a young girl had been put in the group that needed the most work. The guards had obviously never seen her in action. There were about ten other people in her group and no matter which person she was paired up with it only took her a few seconds and she had a sword at his throat. Jade was doing marvelous with her iron sword, though she wanted a real opponent so she could really test it out. The head guard who was training her group was extremely impressed and laughed every time she defeated another opponent he would usually say something like this; "What were they thinking not letting you in sooner?" Then he would chuckle. "And they were saying girls couldn't fight." As much as satisfaction it was defeating person after person and being praised, she grew bored quiet quickly and was glad when it was over. She walked home sore and tired, dreading having to face her father, who was probably drunk as could be and wouldn't let her sleep, he had not come home until really late last night after hearing the news of the war and she thought it would probably be the same tonight. "Oh well," thought Jade, "at least I have a sword to threaten him with if he is not quiet."

(Character change)

Maya wiped her eyes, which were bleary from lack of sleep. She ate a quick dinner of soup that a replacement servant had brought in because Grace was still gone. Maya was exhausted from sitting in the council, going over every little detail, discussing every single tactic and they had finally come up with a plan. They would prepare soldiers for battle; every blacksmith would be working tirelessly to make weapons and armor and miners would be working extra hours to find iron. Six days from now, when the Nether was supposed to attack, the kingdom will be patrolled by guards, knights, and soldiers watching for the Nether king. When the king starts to attack, all forces will go to that area and defend, hopefully, keeping the Nether king out of the kingdom.

The plan was simple, and everyone agreed it was the best they had. Of course that was just the gist of it, and there were many other small details that had been discussed that day. Maya was glad it was over; she knew she had a very busy week ahead and so she went eagerly to bed hoping that her thoughts would be quiet so she could sleep.

_There you go! Chapter 6, could ya believe it? Feedback people! I want to hear it! Tell me what I am doing wrong, (In a nice way) right, whatever! Thank you for the reviews! It is greatly appreciated! Thank you for reading, as always! And…I'm out!_

_-Bailey_


	7. Chapter 7

_Hola people! Here is chapter seven!_

Chapter seven

Maya woke with a start, her heart banging furiously in her chest; she was coated in cold sweat and shaking. She pushed a hand to her forehead and breathed deep, "It was only a dream," she thought shivering as the images of the dream passed through her head; her brothers lying dead on the red stained ground. The Nether king and his army had been jeering at her and one held a stick with her fathers head on the top and was waving it triumphantly. The more she had looked around her, the more dead people she had seen. She had looked until her dream self began to cry and sob into her hands and then she realized she had been crying tears of blood. And suddenly she couldn't breath; she was choking on her own blood which was rising in her throat and just when black spots were obscuring her vision she woke up.

She tried to shake her head clear of it and looked at the sky outside her window, much like yesterday it was cloudy and had an eerie stillness , she didn't see anyone running around outside, no children playing, no one in the market square, just still. Through the dark clouds she could see the pale sun, it was late she realized, a little after mid-morning. She had slept a long time. Grace hadn't woken her up, she must still be gone.

Maya got dressed quickly, still trying to shake off her uneasiness from her dream and hurried to the dinning hall to get something to eat. She entered and was surprised to see William seated at one of the chairs, eating and reading. She hadn't even thought about William, there had been too much going on. She almost felt bad, she had actually thought William might be nice to get to know; still it seemed silly to be worrying about a boy when she had much bigger problems.

She walked to the table and William looked up from his book, "Oh, hello Maya." He said, his swampy brown eyes smiling at her. She smiled in return.

"Mind if I sit?"

"No not at all!" He replied and closed his book.

Maya sat. "You can continue to read." Maya said as she took a biscuit from a plate. "I don't mind."

"No, really I would rather talk with a pretty girl like you."

This made Maya blush and she quickly changed the subject. "What were you reading?" She asked.

"Oh, that," He said and looked uncomfortable. "I was, err, reading about dancing."

"Dancing?" Maya asked surprised, "Why do you want to learn dancing?"

"Well it seems silly now, but I was hoping that when we had another chance to dance, I would manage not to trip over my own feet." This made Maya laugh, because it seemed ridiculous to be worrying about dancing at a time like this but William had been serious.

He smiled "You know that is second time you've laughed at me, I honestly didn't know I was that funny."

"Well, you are. I think you should be a court Jester here." Maya said grinning.

"I have considered it, but I don't think many other people find me that funny."

Maya shrugged and finished the rest of her biscuit, suddenly not really feeling in the joking mood. She might not have a court for him to be a jester in soon. He must have realized her change in mood because he stopped grinning and looked at her earnestly.

"You're going to beat them you know, your kingdom is strong, and your father is a good leader, he knows what he is doing."

Maya looked down at her empty plate and nodded, wishing she shared his enthusiasm. "Are you leaving today with the others?" Maya asked, the other kings would depart to there own lands today. All of them offered help but the closest kingdom was a five day journey in carriage and by the time the king got back to his kingdom and sent troops it would have been one week from now and by the time his army actually got here it would be 2 weeks past the Nether kings deadline, maybe too late to help.

He shook his head "No, my father and I agreed that we would stay and help as much as we could, my mother can watch over our kingdom until we get back. If the Nether king takes your kingdom it won't be long until he wants more. We would have a world war on our hands. No, we need to stop him now before it's too late."

Maya felt relieved, she wasn't sure why. She hardly knew William and two people fighting with them wasn't a huge deal. "We are grateful to you," Maya said, almost shyly.

He smiled, "It's an honor."

(Character change)

Jade left her first shift eagerly; she hadn't thought it would be so boring. She literally just stood in front of a portal for six hours, nodding at anyone who passed. There had been other guards with her but she didn't know them and they didn't seem keen to know her. So she just stood and watched the sun outside the window slant lower and lower into the sky until it was setting and she could leave.

She did get paid though, more then her father does in a day but he spends most of his precious pay checks at the tavern, so Jade had mostly been living off her chicken's eggs. Well not anymore! She could stand just guarding the palace if it meant she kept getting this salary. She looked forward to what she might buy, she thought before she spent any money on food she really needed new clothes, hers were in rags. She hoped she could do that tomorrow which she had free until around dinner, when she had to have a night shift guarding the portal.

She opened the door to her small one room house and was greeted by her drunken father sitting at the table with a bottle in his hand. "You," He said and stumbled out of his chair pointing at her. "Where in the Nether have you been?" She winced at his stench as he came closer to her.

"I was on my first shift, as a guard." Jade said proudly.

"Were ya now?" He asked towering over her, his bloodshot eyes glaring. "Think your some kind of hero, going to fight?" He raised his voice, slurring his words. Jade stayed silent, trying not to be hurt. "Well, they had to pay you some how, and I need some coin." He took a big swig out of his bottle. "Hand it over."

"No," Jade said and stepped backwards only to find the door. "It's mine, I worked for it," She said trying to keep her voice steady, to sound brave.

"No good bastard child, hand it over!" He bellowed and raised his hand. Jade fumbled with the door handle but wasn't fast enough. The impact of the slap made her dizzy and she was shocked, her father had threatened her and yelled at her but never had he hit her. She whimpered, and held her cheek, through her tears she could see her father looking at his hand in astonishment and then back at her,

"This is why my mother left!" Jade choked out, "It's your fault she died! You killed her." She managed to open the door this time and she ran out sobbing into the night, she heard her fathers muffled shout "Jade!" and then a soft thump as he hit the ground because he tripped. Jade just ran, going anywhere. She wound up at the market square, heaving sobs, tears dripping heavily down her face. She wiped them away in frustration, and walked down the street before cutting through an ally and sitting near a path that dropped down a steep hill. She could hear lively voices and laughter coming from the inn behind her.

Before she could stop the images she saw it, she was a child again, just six years old, and her mother had just tucked her into bed and pulled her curtain around the bed. Jade had lain in her bed for a long time, she couldn't sleep so she listened to the soft humming of her mother while she cleaned the dishes.

Jade had heard heavy footsteps and the door creak open. Her father's voice mumbled something Jade couldn't hear, and she heard her mother scold him for coming home so late. Jade had peeked around the curtain and saw her father seated at the table drinking from a bottle while her mother sliced bread for him. He was mad because there was only bread to eat, he yelled at her mother and her mother told him in vain to be quiet. He didn't stop yelling and so her mother started to yell too.

This had happened before but it had never been this bad, Jade watched, horror struck as her father advanced on her mother still yelling, she couldn't even tell what he was yelling about. Her mother didn't even flinch just stood there and called him a name Jade hadn't understood when she was young. When her mother called him that her father had slapped her mother, hard, the sound rang around the room and Jade almost cried out for her mother but she was to afraid if she made a noise he would hurt her too.

"I'm going for a walk." That is what Jade's mother had said, and she left her father standing there. Jade had so much wanted to go after her mother, to hug her but she was still scared, she stayed frozen in terror. She had sat there for a long time and after a while her father fell asleep, and Jade did too.

She had woken to sharp raps on the door and was at first confused until she saw her father slowly getting up, then she remembered. Her father groaned and opened the door, and little Jade had tip toed out of bed hoping it was her mother who was at the door. It wasn't her mother though, it was a guard, he had a very serious expression on his face and he had mumbled something to her father. The guard looked over her father's shoulder at Jade and smiled sadly, but Jade sank farther back in the shadows. Something was wrong, her father was crying, she had never seen him cry. The guard gave her father a squeeze on the shoulder before leaving, shutting the door behind him. Jade watched as her father sank to the floor on his knees and cried rocking back and forth. Jade was afraid and watched him for a moment before she stepped up to him.

"Where is mother?" She had asked her father and he raised his wet eyes at her,

"She's d-dead," He said his voice breaking on the last word. Jade had told him no, that he was wrong and that she was here just last night but he just sat and cried. She had yelled at him, told him he was lying to her, but it wasn't any good. It wasn't some cruel joke, her mother was dead.

Later, Jade had found out that it was a creeper that killed her mother; she had been walking when one snuck behind her and blew up.

"It was his fault." Jade thought and was surprised to see she was crying again. A voice beside her made her jump,

"Are you all right?" She looked up and saw a tall knight holding a torch. She tried to discreetly wipe away her tears, "I'm fine." She answered. He lifted the torch higher so some of the light fell on her. She watched as his eyes fell on her swollen cheek.

"No you're not." He said crouching next to her. "Who did this to you? I am a knight I can help." His eyes searched hers and she realized he couldn't be much older than her, she shook her head.

"Really, I fine."

"Please, just tell me who," He pleaded "Then I can take you home." He said smiling.

Jade bit her lip, "It was my father." She admitted.

He looked shocked, "Oh, I guess I shouldn't take you home then." He offered her a hand up. "We can talk to your father tomorrow, it's late. Do you have any relatives you can stay with?"

Jade shook her head, "I can sleep here for tonight, I don't mind."

"Here? Outside? I can't let you do that, what if a mob got past the border?" He shook his head. "Come on, you can stay at my house."

Jade stepped away from him; she really didn't mind sleeping outside. "No, I couldn't."

"Come on, I am sure your hungry, my mother makes really good soup." At the mention of food Jades stomach growled and she winced at the sound.

He smiled, "Come on my mother loves company." Jade nodded reluctantly. "What is your name anyway?" He asked and started to head to the nobles part of the town.

"Jade." She answered,

"Well Jade, It's nice to meet you." He said grinning as they reached a large manor. "My name is Mathew."

_Done! Thank you so much for reviewing! _

_Mindblank, thank you. Also, I hope you found your waffles. :) _

_FeeDrag0n, Here is the chapter, __ I am glad you like the story! _

_MD, thanks for the tip, I will work on that! Also thank you for reading! _

_What else? I got nothing, so have a good Tuesday evening everyone! I'm out!_

_-Bailey_


	8. Chapter 8

**Heeeelllloooo people of the internet fan fiction! How has you week been? Good I hope! As a special Halloween treat, have a long(ish) chapter!**

Chapter eight

Jade woke and for a moment she didn't know where she was, then as she sat up on the warm feather mattress, she remembered. She held back tears when she recalled what her father had done; her cheek throbbed slightly as she walked across the soft carpet of a large bedroom to a mirror hanging on the wall. She studied her face; her grey eyes looked fierce and bright like her mothers had, but there were something else in them too. They looked held a certain pain in them, like she was lost. She hated it, she wasn't a child, and she hated her father. She had been mad at him before but this wasn't just anger, this was resentment, she abhorred him.

As she glared up at her face in the mirror she realized how pitiful she must have looked to Mathew, crying and hurt in the darkness of night. It hadn't seemed like pity though, Jade recalled, he looked as if he genuinely cared. She went back to her face, her cheek itself was still slightly swollen but it looked better than it had last night, when Mathew's mother, Charlotte, had kindly cleaned it. Jade's blond hair was in knots and her eyes were slightly red and puffy from crying last night. She combed her hair as best she could with her fingers and braided it tightly down her back.

Jade didn't like charity much, but now she felt as though last night she needed it. She would leave as soon as possible; she didn't plan on staying any longer. Jade made the bed as best she could and left.

She walked down the hall and into the dinning room, hoping she could thank her hosts and leave. Charlotte was seated at one of the chairs and was writing something on a piece of paper. She was a thin, graceful woman with brownish gray hair, dark eyes and lovely smile. She was what Jade thought a mother should be. Jade cleared her throat, and Charlotte looked up,

"Jade! Good to see you are up! I was just going to fetch you for breakfast. How did you sleep? Were you comfortable?"

"Oh, yes. Very comfortable, thank you so much for letting me stay, but breakfast is not necessary, I just came to say good-bye to you and Mathew. I am afraid I can't impose on you any longer." Jade said politely. She watched as Charlottes eyes turned from bright and happy to disappointment when Jade spoke.

"Really, you must at least stay for breakfast," Charlotte began, her eyes hardening in determinedness. "I just had the cook prepare a wonderful breakfast and I hardly ever have another lady to talk with. Couldn't you stay just for breakfast?" Her eyes were pleading and Jade could hardly say no, after all Charlotte had given her a place to sleep and food to eat. Besides that, Jade was hungry.

"If you are sure I am no trouble to you." Jade said, though she had never been good at 'lady talk'

"Nonsense, I love to have guests," Charlotte replied. And Charlotte definitely did, soon after Jade had sat down, servants brought in steaming plates of buttered bread, sweet jam, biscuits, eggs, and breakfast cakes, with juice or milk to drink. Jade had never seen such a big breakfast, so she helped herself to everything and in no time at all, without interruption except for the occasional comment from Charlotte, (Who must have seen how busy Jade was eating because she didn't talk much) Jade was more full than she had been last night, when she had mushroom soup that was leftover from Charlotte's dinner.

Jade sat, perfectly full and watched Charlotte as she finished eating, "So, where is Mathew?" She inquired, wondering why he wasn't at breakfast.

"Oh, he had to leave early this morning, he has been very busy with all that is going on," She answered. "He will be here in time for lunch though, and after that he plans to help sort things out with your father." Charlotte's eyes where twinkling kindly and Jade was surprised out how at ease she was with Charlotte, who made her feel comfortable. She had been so kind, and it had been a long time since anyone had been kind to Jade.

(Character change)

Maya walked to the large public council room briskly, the public had wished to have a day to express their concerns to her father. People had been waiting in line since before dawn to speak with their king. She had watched as people of all ranks, nobles, middle class, and peasants stood in a line before the doors of castle, all with frightened looks in their eyes.

Her father thought it might be good to help ease some of their fear; he planned on sending whoever couldn't or wouldn't fight away from the kingdom, to an abandoned mine in the mountains, about a days walk from here.

Maya didn't really have to attend the council, but a she had begun to feel a growing sense of dread, she felt responsible, she had been part of the Nether kings terms hadn't she? Wasn't she partiality responsible for the kingdom? She wanted to help, do anything to help. Maya had been racking her brain for anyway to avoid war, and she had come up with nothing. So she would attend the council, offer her advice when asked, though she was sure questions would be directed to her father or maybe Luke, but not her.

She wondered briefly if William would attend, no, she decided. Why would he? She and William had talked for a while yesterday, keeping off the subject of war. It was nice, he had been nice, and it only saddened her that she wouldn't get to spend more time with him. No, she didn't dare hope for it; he was a friend, an ally, and she wouldn't keep lingering on what might be.

She entered the council room, and started on what was going to be a long day.

(Character Change)

Jade felt some of the thick cloth in her hands, and slid her hand across it, expensive? Yes, but this would last a long time, it was ideal for fighting. So, reaching a hand in her pocket and taking out some of her precious hard earned coins she succumbed to the rich fabric. The tailor was pleased and after taking a few measurements told her that her leggings would be ready in a few hours. Jade ordered a simple cotton shirt to wear with them and left her with pockets considerably lighter.

She had left Mathews house this morning after reluctantly agreeing to let Charlottes maid draw Jade a bath. It was now mid morning and Jade thought she would have just enough time to pick up her clothes and head back to Mathew's house to meet Mathew so she could speak with her father.

Jade was starting to feel hesitant to do this however, and after she had wandered around for a couple of hours, she picked up her clothes, changed into them, and then headed up to the Manor, her reluctance had only increased. She began to feel that maybe she wasn't ready to speak to her father at all. She was still extremely angry with him, but she didn't want to look at him, she didn't want to talk to him, and as mad as she was, she wasn't sure she wanted him to go to jail. Having him go to jail for a few weeks wouldn't change what he had done, he would still come home drunk, and he would still yell. She didn't think her father would ever change; no amount of time in a cell could fix him.

Finally she stood at the steps at of the Manor and knocked at the door, she was greeted by the house maid who led her into the living area where Mathew and Charlotte sat. Mathew saw her enter and grinned broadly,

"Jade, good to see you,"

Jade didn't feel much like smiling but she did, and she was sure Mathew had inherited Charlotte's trait of making anyone feel calm and reassured.

"Good afternoon," Jade replied and nodded a greeting in Charlotte's direction.

"Well mother, I think we had better get going," He said and walked to where Charlotte was sitting. "As long as Jade is ready that is."

Jade still wasn't sure but she nodded anyway. Mathew kissed his mother's cheek and Charlotte smiled, excepting the affection. Jade felt a pang of jealousy as she watched them, wishing for her own mother.

"Please, if you can, come to dinner Jade." Charlotte said, "You are always welcome to stay another night too, if things don't work out." And Jade felt as though she really was welcome and that Charlotte had grown fond of her.

"Thank you Charlotte, you have been so kind." Jade said.

"Let's go then." Said Mathew and he headed out the door and Jade followed into the cloudy day. They walked in silence down the path, Jade too nervous, and battling with her thoughts to bother with conversation. When they had reached the outskirts of the guard keeper's neighborhood, Jade stopped. She couldn't, she had decided, she just couldn't see her father, the thought haunted her. Mathew, who had stopped a few steps in front of her turned and looked back.

"What's wrong?" He asked seeing Jades pale expression. Jade swallowed dryly and shook her head,

"I- I can't go." She said, looking helplessly at Mathew. "Look, I am sorry but I can't. I just, I'm not ready." It sounded lame and coarse in Jade's ears but Mathew looked at her sympathetically.

"Okay," He said, nodding. "But are you sure? He's not going to hurt you while I am there, you don't need to worry about that."

"I'm not worried about that," Jade said, trying to find words to explain how she felt but her thoughts were interrupted by Mathew stepping closer and staring into her eyes.

"Jade, your father hurt you. Don't you think he deserves jail time for it?" he said gently.

"Yes, he does," She agreed, "but it's not going to help anything, he will just come back, even nastier than ever." She looked down, embarrassed by how intensely his green eyes had been staring into her own.

"What do you want me to do then?" He asked simply.

Jade's eyes flickered back up at his and she sighed. "Nothing, I can't ask anymore of you. You've done so much-," And then, against Jades will, she began to cry. She hardly cried (Last night had been the first time in years) and she never cried in front of people, but she couldn't stop the tears once they started. It was to much, the war, her father, and her refreshed pain of her mother's death. Jade was surprised when she felt warm arms wrap around her in an embrace, and she let her head fall onto Mathew's warm chest, all resistant's to be tough and self dependent gone.

**What did you think? Please tell me! I am trying not to beg here. Can you tell? **

**Also, it seems that everyone else uses bold letters for their author's notes. I have just been using the Italic font thingy, but now I am doing what everyone else does! **

**Now, reviews:**

**FeeDrag0n, Thank you, you awesome reviewer. **

**Mindblank, Thank you for the support! And uh… thanks for slapping OY with your waffles for me, but also tell him that there are no hard feelings. **

**EnderBlazeHybrid, Thank you amazing buddy! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! **

**What else? Oh yeah, Mindblank kind of gave me an idea. Do any of you have songs that inspire you? I love music and I would want to listen to songs that inspire you! But! Don't post the songs as a review because (I am pretty sure) that it is not part of the story guidelines. So, please message me if you have a song you want me to hear, I would love to hear it! **

**I think that is it! Have a fun Halloween everyone! Don't forget to review! I'm out!**

**-Bailey**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi-ya! I hope nobody is feeling too sick from Halloween candy! Here is the chapter:**

Maya felt drained and hopeless, she had excused herself from the public council and was now sitting on her bed. So many people had come, all terrified of what would happen. She watched women plead desperately to their king to save them from the doom they were so sure that was coming, while their children huddled against their skirts, sometimes crying, sometimes looking wide eyed at their mother whom they had never seen beg for anything. Men came too, asking if there was any way to save their wife or their children. It was just about enough to make Maya break down and cry with them, comfort their poor children and put an arm around the desperate mother's shoulders.

She had watched in amazement as her father sat calmly, never showing much emotion and Luke, stood silent too, his face stony. Her love for her people grew in the short morning she was with them, she simply _had _to help. She had become overwhelmed with affection for everyone that came in. She couldn't let anyone get hurt; she would do anything to save them. Her thoughts had been rapid all afternoon, and she had found her answer, she would save them, and she was desperate.

(Character change)

Jade and Mathew trudged back up the path to Mathew's house. Jade muttered an apology for about the fifth time, and Mathew said 'no problem' again. After a while Jade had managed to stop crying and Mathew had let go of her, the tips of his ears had been pink. Jade, she had been blushing too, in fact, she was pretty sure she hadn't stopped by the time they opened the door to the house and Jade hurried up to the guest bedroom again. She had agreed to stay, but she planned on paying them what she could of her salary. It still didn't seem right to stay here for free.

Charlotte had retired to her bedroom so she didn't know Jade had come back yet. Jade had left for her own room under the excuse that she had to rest up for a night shift at the castle guarding the portal again. This was true, she did need to rest but it was also because she wanted to get away from the awkwardness with Mathew. Jade was a little mad at herself for breaking down like that but Mathew had been nice about it, goose bumps rose on her arms as she thought about his warm embrace. 'Goose bumps?' She asked herself and rubbed her arms. 'You need sleep,' she told herself and slipped in bed and tried to rest.

(Line break)

Jade stood nearest to the portal this time, the odd whirling noise of it in her ears. Her feet were stiff and she shifted impatiently. She glanced up at the moon, it looked to be midnight, 'Just a few more hours' thought Jade, thinking longingly of her bed at Mathew's house. She shifted again, trying to shake off the sleepiness. A man who looked to be about twenty sniggered,

"What's the matter, girly?" he asked turning towards her. "Getting tired?" Jade glared at him as the three other men sniggered as well. The four of them had been taunting her all night, they apparently didn't like that she was a girl. She held her head high,

"Not at all, are you." She answered calmly, just a few days ago she might have picked a fight with this man but she didn't think he was worth her energy.

He shook his head and swung his fists menacingly. "I could stand here all night."

Jade couldn't help it she rolled her eyes and turned away from him.

"Can't believe they are letting those dumb peasants in," He said to the others, "Much less a peasant girl." The others mumbled in agreement. "Bet she can't even hold her sword steady." He continued, taunting her. Jade clenched her hands in fist but didn't say anything; she stared straight ahead, resisting the urge to unsheathe her sword. "Hey," he said and poked her on the shoulder, "How did you get in anyway?"

Jade bit her lip hard and turned, her stormy eyes glaring at him. "Do. Not. Touch. Me. You," And then Jade called him a very foul name.

"Oh yeah," he said. His eyes flashing dangerously and he took a step towards her. Jade drew her sword and held it in front of her. He paused in his step,

"You know what? He said his eyes flickering from the sword to Jade, and she hoped he saw that she could hold it steady. "I am going to forget you said anything but only if you go to the kitchen, and get me and my friends some ale. What do you say?" The other men laughed and nodded in approval of his request. Jade whole body trembled in effort to keep from fighting him; she thought logically and took a deep breath. There were four of them and one of her, her chances of beating them in a fight weren't good. She thought to herself. 'Just do it' and as much as it pained Jade, she nodded in agreement.

"Fine, it will give me a chance to stretch my legs."

She wasn't worried about being caught; she knew guarding the kitchen would be the last on any ones priority list. Sure enough, Jade reached the corridor where the door to the kitchen was and there was only one guard, who didn't pay any attention to her.

She quietly opened the door to the dark kitchen, and peered through the gloom, trying to spot some ale. After searching around, she found a trapdoor leading to a cool cellar, where bottle upon bottle of drink sat on shelves. Jade picked up the first two bottles saw that were labeled ale and stuffed them in her shirt, before hurrying back up the ladder; she walked back through the kitchen and paused when she saw a small pitcher of left over milk. Jade had passed by it and caught the scent of it, like cinnamon and vanilla, so deciding to that she might as well steal something for herself; she poured water out of her water-skin and poured some of the freshly scented milk into it and then left down the hallway.

She turned the corner and stepped into the portal room, gasped and let go of the bottles, they banged and smashed against the floor. Inside, four limp bodies lay spread across the floor, the haze of potions was in the air, a female figure stood over them, wearing a dark blue cloak, she had heard the broken bottles crack and turned her head and was now raising a potion menacingly towards Jade.

"Wait!" Jade called and put her hands up; she didn't now how lethal that potion was, to Jades surprise the figure paused. 'Good' Jade thought. And then began to talk in a whimpering voice. "P-please don't hurt me," She said and made her eyes go round, she could usually pass for a few years younger than she really was because of her small frame. The figure seemed to think she was a little girl because she lowered the potion.

"Don't speak to loud," the figure said in a whisper. "Listen, I am not going to hurt you."

Jade's mind was racing, who was that? Her voice sounded extremely familiar.

"You just need to be quiet," She spoke again and Jade almost fell over with realization, 'The princess! But what would she be doing knocking out (or worse) the portal guards? Surly she couldn't be a spy?'

"Listen to me, I won't hurt you but you need to go straight home and not tell anyone about this okay?"

Jade nodded franticly hoping she still looked like a scared little girl.

"Alright, go home now, don't tell anyone though."

Jade was bewildered, her thoughts running swiftly through her brain, but she quickly hurried back down the corridor she came from.

'The princess couldn't be the spy though? If she is, why is she is so ready to trust a little girl? But if she isn't why would she be going to the portal room?'

Jade rounded the corner and stayed there, she knew one thing for sure: she defiantly wasn't leaving. She peeked her head out from around the corner just in time to see through the open door into the portal room, catching a glimpse of a wavering blue cloak disappearing in the portal. 'No, no, no' thought Jade and (obviously not thinking) ran into the portal after her.

(Character change)

Maya felt like she was being flipped inside out and spun around while being dowsed in freezing water. She looked around and saw nothing but purple filling her eyes, then the feeling began to subside and she began to see a reddish gloom in front of her, her vision was wavy and she felt nauseous but the reddish gloom was becoming clearer, she felt something solid beneath her feet again and she was making out the insides of a very red cave. The spinning and flipping feeling were almost completely gone but the freezing cold was becoming more intense and she had a feeling that if she didn't get out soon, she would be taken back to the castle.

She stumbled out, and instantly she felt blasted by heat, the air was thick, heavy, and difficult to breath. **(Like when your face is under a blanket except hotter)** She took a few gasping breathes, which didn't feel natural or comfortable, her eyes took on her surroundings, she appeared to be in a cave, (which made sense considering the palace portal was hidden from the nether king) the intense red made her eyes hurt, everywhere was a rough red, pink, and whitish stone. She stepped up to the wall of the cave and ran her hand over the roughness of it, it felt odd. Her hand froze as the sound of the portal grew louder and she heard footsteps.

Maya whirled around only to come face to face with the weepy helpless child she had seen in the castle, except the grey eyed girl didn't look so much like a child now. Her blond hair was braided tightly down her back and the braid ended just above her waist, her grey eyes were narrowed at Maya and she held an iron sword up. Again, Maya cursed her naivety, 'Of course the girl would follow you, why couldn't you see she is a guard?'

"What do you think you're doing?" Asked the girl, looking at her like she was a criminal,

"This is none of your business!" Maya cried, "You shouldn't have followed me!"

"Right I was just supposed to let the princess go tell the Nether king all our plans. How could you betray your father like that?"

Maya was confused, and then she realized what the girl thought she was. "I am not a spy!"

"Oh, really?" she sneered, but she looked a little relieved "What are you doing here then?"

"I-I came to try and fix things." Maya looked down, not wanting to explain herself.

"What do you mean fix things?" The girl asked, puzzled.

Maya didn't say anything, just watched the girls face, which had paled.

"You can't give yourself up!" The girl cried in disbelief. "They'll just kill you! If you do go they aren't going to let you leave, they'd keep you as leverage!"

Maya shook her head; it was a risk she was willing to take. "You can't tell me what to do."

"No, but I can make you go back," Said the girl now pointing her sword at Maya. "Think rationally, this won't work, just go back through the portal, or I'll-"

"You'll what?" Asked Maya, "I'm sorry, but I don't believe you'd hurt the princess." And she drew a potion from her cloak and threw it, splashing it at the girl's feet.

**Alright, there you go for chapter number IX! Tell me what you think!**

**To my solo reviewer, mindblank: Thank you, as always! Yay! OY didn't eat you! Yes you did, and I hope you had a fun Halloween too!**

**Guess that is it! Ta-ta for now!**


	10. Chapter 10

'**ello everybody! Due to the fact that my internet has been rather sketchy, I have written more instead of surfing the internet, so I have a new chapter sooner than I usually would. Enjoy!**

Chapter ten

Jade saw her slip the potion out from beneath her cloak but it was to late, there was a clinking noise as the potion shattered at Jades feet. The effect was instant, her legs started to go numb and she fell to the ground. She saw the princess leave the cave and tried to shout after her only to find she couldn't speak.

Her vision began to go blank as black dots slowly started to replace the bright red of the cave, 'Think Jade' she thought to herself, and then with a quick jolt of joy she remembered the milk in her water skin. She tested her hand and found it was difficult to move and that the tips of her fingers were going numb. She found her belt and fumbled desperately at the knot that kept the skin on there. After a few second she got it undone but her fingers were numbing fast, she fumbled with the tie that kept it closed, her fingers rubbing helplessly against the knot, which, by some miracle came undone. She clasped as it as best she could in her halfway numb hand and shakily brought the tip to her mouth. Milk dripped in her mouth and she forcefully tried to swallow, she couldn't even tell if she did. The black dots took her last glimpse of the cave away and she lay there paralyzed, wondering if she had managed to swallow the milk.

After lying there for a few minutes she started to feel a small tingling in her toes and within seconds her whole body began to tingle, and though she felt very weak and was still blind, she sat up and gulped down more milk. This time, the result was immediate and her vision cleared at once, along with the weakness and her not being able to speak. She must not have swallowed enough milk the first time so not all the potion effects left, now that she had, she easily stood up.

She had to stop the princess! What was she thinking, going off like that? Jade considered her options: If she went back through the portal to get help, it might be too late for the princess by the time help came. If she did go after her, there was a strong chance Jade wouldn't be much help and would get captured along with the princess. Jade made up her mind; she knew her duty as a guard, so she walked through a narrow passageway out of the cave.

Jade's jaw dropped, she couldn't stop it. She was on the edge of a large drop off and all around her red, orange, and pinks. Lava was everywhere, at the bottom of the drop off there was a huge lake, stretching as far as Jade could see, lava-falls cascading into it. It was terrifying, yet amazing, almost beautiful. She took a deep breath of the stale, hot air and looked to her right and saw a path made of dark brick which Jade recognized as nether brick. It went right across the lava lake, and stretched far. Jade suspected this was the way to the nether king's palace, though she didn't know how far ahead it was. She also assumed that was the way the princess had gone; after all, she had wanted to get to the nether king. That was her goal right? The princess couldn't be more than a few minutes ahead, so Jade set down the path at a run.

(Character Change)

Maya walked briskly, her eyes darted back and forth. The path was long and she had been walking for at least a half hour and was wondering how long it would take her. She was also worried that someone would find she was gone before she had the chance to talk to the nether king. Soon though, large towers were looming in the distance, her heart skipped nervously but she continued walking. She came to an intersecting path, one that went left to right. She paused for a moment and in that moment she heard a voice,

"Well, well, well wha' do we have 'ere?" The voice was jagged and rough and came from beside her. Maya turned slowly, a pig-man stood in front of her, his pink skin was half rotted and dirty, his arms were muscular, his clothes were torn and his face, Maya shivered. His face was awful, he had sharp pointed teeth, his mouth was snarling, his nose was much like a pigs, snout like. His eyes were black and menacing and he had dark greasy hair like a mop. He was on the edge of the path; he must have been hiding beneath when Maya came along.

He walked closer to her and unsheathed his sword, which was wickedly curved and golden,

"A human?" He asked inspecting her, "A human girl too, hey! Come 'ere Gerg! Maya watched as another form jumped up on the path and ran towards them,

"What do you wan-." The pigman called Gerg started to say, before stopping, "A human?" He turned towards his friend. "Why do you have a human, Storg?" Storg clearly looked irritated.

"I just foun' it, I don't _have_ it."

"Oh," Gerg said looking at Maya, who was sweating and trying to get a word in. "She don't look like the others much."

"Tha's because she's a girl," Storg said, "Don' think we 'ave ever gotten a girl."

They both paused and looked at her.

"I wish to see your king." Maya said, finally getting her chance to talk, with her head raised and voice strong. The pig-men looked taken back, Maya repeated herself and then Gerg laughed and Storg started to chuckle.

"Did ya 'ear her, Storg? She wants to see the king!"

Maya narrowed her eyes nervously at them, "I-I am a princess from the Overworld and I wish to see the king." This only made them laugh harder,

"She thinks she's a princess, Storg!"

"I am!" Maya said suddenly fearing there swords.

"Right, sure yer are," Said Storg calming down,

"I really am! I can prove it." Storg raised his eyebrows. "My father is Gareth windhearth, of Elowyn. Your king is planning an attack on my kingdom. I am his only daughter; I am supposed to wed his son." They laughed again and Maya felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Right, but we don't even know anything about the Overworld, so you could just be making things up and we wouldn't know."

"But, I'm n-not!" Maya said backing away because they were now stepping closer with there swords raised.

"I think you should come with us." Storg continued and Maya stumbled and fell backwards. He walked to her and pointed the sword at her throat. "Get u-."

He was cut off and there was a flash of yellow and a sharp clanging noise as his sword was knocked aside. Maya looked in surprise only to see the girl she should have knocked out, fighting Gerg, having knocked away Storgs sword. Maya was too surprised to do anything but stare open-mouthed at the girl who was now expertly fighting Gerg. She was going to win soon, Gerg stumbled and Jade flicked his sword aside and pointed her sword at his throat but before she could strike, Maya felt hands harshly haul her up and a sharp golden blade at her throat,

"Stop!" Storgs voice rang out as he turned Maya to face the girl. "Or I will kill her," Maya watched the girls face, which was had an expression like 'You had to get yourself caught.' 'Why had she even come?' Maya wondered. Why hadn't she run back to the palace? Would she let Maya die, should she let Maya die?' But the girl with a defeated glaring look, stepped away from Gerg,

"Drop your sword," Said Storg pulling his sword threateningly closer to Maya. She could feel his awful warm breath on her neck and his stench filled her nostrils. Her heart pounded and she felt a sense of loss and dread as the girl let her sword clatter to the ground but what else could she do? The girls eyes were wild and flashing angrily but she stood and let Gerg take her sword and hold her arms behind her in the same fashion as Maya's.

"I told you not to come," The girl muttered speaking to Maya as they began to shuffle in the direction of the palace. "Now we are both dead."

**End of chapter.**

**To da reviews!**

**Feedrag0n: Indeed, they do! Finally, I know it has taken a while.**

**Death is a gift: I really should sleep more often than I do, but I do have an advantage of being home schooled so I don't have to wake up quite as early. **

**Mindblank: Yeah they met! It is finally coming together. Thanks, and I was a little but isn't that what you do the day after Halloween? Get sick and eat candy. I hope you enjoyed the howling experience. **

**Wishing you all the best! –Bailey is out!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

Jade hated this, she was a prisoner. A prisoner! What had the princess even done to help them? Sat on the ground like she was too good for fighting and let Jade do the dirty work. Jade regretted her decision to not go back through the portal and let someone else deal with this.

She pulled at the ropes at her wrist feeling frustrated. The princess sat parallel to her, in the small, dungeon-like room. They weren't allowed to speak; the pigmen she had nearly killed stood guarding them. She grinded her teeth impatiently, the second pigman had gone to report them to whoever was higher ranking than them, Jade supposed. The room stunk, just like the pig men had and Jade wasn't sure if she was right but there was something that resembled a skeleton in the corner.

The princess shifted against the wall, sitting up straight and instantly made it so the attention was on her, Jade wondered if it was a natural thing to do when you are a Royal or if you learn it. The princess cleared her throat,

"What are you going to do with us?" The pigmen, looking annoyed, answered.

"Tha's up to my boss."

"Oh," She said and looked down. "Do you know what he will do with us?"

The pigmen grinned in a wicked fashion. "I know wha' I 'ope he'll do with you."

"What's that?" The princess asked uncertainly.

"Well I 'aven't had my dinner yet if tha' answerers yer question." Jade watched the princess shiver and back further up against the wall.

Jade was racked her brains, trying to figure out a way to escape but had come up with nothing. The way they had come in had been heavily guarded, it seemed that the pigmen served the nether king and there where many stationed all over the halls in which they had walked before coming here. Besides that, her sword was gone and there were no ways to cut the rope tying her hands together.

Footsteps echoed outside the door and Jade looked up and saw the same pigman as before except with another. Jade assumed, by his iron sword and armor that this was the 'boss' the guard-pigmen had been talking about.

"These are the humans." He was saying to the boss-pigman. "That one claims she is the princess." He gestured towards Maya who was looking pale.

"That is her! Do you two know anythin'?" The boss-pigman exclaimed. Jade wasn't sure if she should be happy about the fact that he recognized the princess, or even more afraid. The other two pigmen looked guilty and started to mumble excuses.

"Tha's enough." The boss-pigmen spoke, silencing their mutters. "She needs to go to the king." They began to yank the princess up with them, and she looked relieved, Jade guessed she was getting what she came for.

"Wha' about her sir?" One of them asked, looking at Jade.

"Jus' take her too." He said and Jade wrinkled her nose as one took her arm hoisted her up. She was half dragged through the dark, winding hallways that seemed like they were always slanting up. It was hard to see in the nether gloom, but the nether brick made things especially dark.

Finally they paused in front of a very large set of doors, and the boss-pigmen entered and shut the doors behind him. Jade assumed he was announcing their presence. About a minute later, the doors were opened by guards on either side of them.

Jade couldn't help but to gape, the ceiling rose high above her and was domed, large pillars rose to support it. And the most stunning thing of all were the quartz, unlike the rest of the castle, this part was made completely of quartz. The dazzling white of it all made Jade almost blinded because her eyes had adjusted to the nether brick gloom.

The room itself was rectangular, so that directly in front of her; on the far side was a throne, with a man in it. He was sitting relaxed, as if he did not have a care in the world. His black hair was smoothed back and he wore dark clothes and unlike King Gareth, no jewels or crown or anything to mark that he was a king. They walked until they reached the foot of the platform where his throne sat and Jade was released.

"Ah Princess Maya, for what do I owe this pleasure?" His voice was silky and deep. Jade's eyes flickered to Maya, who seemed very composed as she stepped forward to answer him.

"I have come to make a deal." Her voice was steady and her body language showed she meant business but her eyes betrayed her own fear.

"A deal?" He asked. "What would that be?"

"My kingdom is very rich; I can offer you many treasures. We have things of magic; I could give you anything you asked." She gulped and continued. "That is, in exchange that you leave my kingdom alone." There was a pause before she spoke again. "I could stay here and marry your son, l-like you wanted." Her voice shook a bit at the last part and Jade saw that she was afraid of those words. Maya's eyes turned almost pleadingly up to the king, who then laughed.

"And what would I want with treasure?" He laughed again. "What would human magic do for me?" His voice turned serious and bitter. "And what would I do with a petty little girl? You are worthless, simply part of my terms so that your kingdom might not resist so much when my son rules. You are nothing to me." Jade felt her stomach sink like a stone, of course this is what she had expected, and she looked over at Maya, who looked as though she had been slapped.

"P-please, I can give you anything. I'll d-do anything." She was desperately pleading, and Jade saw tears pooling in her eyes.

"There is nothing I want from you, I am afraid that you will have to surrender to me or your kingdom will be destroyed." His cold demon eyes glared at Maya. "I don't want anything from you." Maya looked crushed.

"What are you going to do?" She asked, sounding tired as if she knew the answer.

"Hmm… That is a good question, what am I going to do? I am not going to kill you if that is what you're worried about, no, I think I could find a use for you." A smile crept up to the corners of his mouth. "Don't worry my dear Maya. You will go home, just not yet." He snapped his fingers and Jade saw a boy emerged from the shadows, a boy Jade had not realized was there. He was obviously the king's son; he had the same dark hair and dark eyes. He was tall and lanky and his hair hung low in front of his eyes. His face was impossible to read as he stepped up to his father.

"Maya, meet my son, Laurent." Laurent's eyes flickered to Maya and then on Jade before returning to rest on his father. "Laurent, I would think it would be nice to treat our guest to a tour, just to see what we uh... have in store, so to speak." Laurent's eyes narrowed as his father talked but he seemed to understand because he nodded.

"I will show her."

Jade had an uneasy feeling that something they had 'in store' could not be good. Maya looked very scared and a little confused, Jade could hardly blame her.

"Good!" The king clasped his hands as if a child delighted by a sweet. "Maya, go with Laurent.

"But," Maya began and looked at Jade. "My guard, she must come with me."

The king seemed to consider this for a moment before speaking. "You don't need a guard, you're perfectly safe here."

"B-but she is a friend, it isn't her fault that she is here. Can you just let her go?"

The king smiled. "Oh, she is a friend, I had no idea, in that case I won't kill her, instead she can rot in the dungeons." Maya looked horrified and horribly guilty.

"Please, she hasn't done anything wrong!" Maya's shouted as Laurent began tugging on her arms.

"Don't worry yourself over it, dear, she is just a guard." The king said and waved goodbye to Maya who was crying and being dragged away by Laurent. The doors closed behind them with a loud bang, silencing Maya's pleads.

The king waved a hand towards Jade, not interested anymore. "Take her away."

Jade looked down as hands fastened around her arms. She had nothing to say, she wasn't going to beg, she knew from the minute she chose to help that this is how it would end and nothing she said could change it.

**And that was the end, peeps! Chapter 11! I have been writing this story for a month already! What is going to happen? Suspense! And the two are separated again. Well, guess you'll have to read the next chapter to find out. **

**To da reviews:**

**BlackDragon41: Thank you so much! You have you're chapter; I did try with the pigmen. I am glad it was gross enough for you. **

**Mindblank: Well yes, I try to post my chapters whenever you are busy. I am mean like that. **** Well, I don't know about my sword fighting scene, but thank you! Professor Lupin! I wouldn't have thrown dirt on you…**

**FeeDrag0n: Hope you liked this chapter! I don't think you had to wait to long. **

**What else? Thank you so much to everyone who reads this! I would love it if you told me what you think, so please review!**

**Guess that is it! Bye!**

**-Bailey**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter twelve

Maya felt tears drip down her cheeks. What had she done? She failed; she failed just as the girl had said she would. The girl whose name was Jade as she learned. Would he let her go? Would it matter, she had messed up so bad, she had been naïve, and naïve to think her plan would work. The thought stung as it had when the Nether king had laughed at her. What had she just condemned this girl, Jade, too?

She was walking beside Laurent, who had stopped holding her arms as soon as she had stopped pulling away, she cried silently for a few more minutes as they walked ever on through some underground tunnel. She didn't ask where she was going and he didn't tell her, they walked in silence. Finally, after Maya had long since stopped her tears, they reached a set of stairs going up and natural light (as natural as it can get in the Nether) filtered through the opening.

"Up here," Laurent said, his voice was surprisingly soft and quiet unlike his father's. Maya walked up the flight of stairs and stopped at the top, stunned into silence. She was standing at the top of a huge hill, and all around her, everywhere, were small black dots, thousands of them. The black dots were (she realized with a cold shock) pigmen, everywhere tents and campfires and pigmen. She gulped and a sense of hopelessness washed over her. How could her father's army defeat this? They outnumbered her father's army greatly. She bit her lip stood, silent. Laurent finally spoke.

"This is our army; we have been training for this for years. He spoke firmly, as if stating facts. "They will defeat your army."

Despite her own doubt, she didn't like the way he stated it. "We still could defeat this, your pigmen are not smart, and maybe numbers don't matter here." She wished she heard the confidence in her voice as she heard in his.

He shook his head. "We have thought of this and this isn't all. Follow me." He gestured back to the stairs. Maya didn't see the point in staying so she did. Once she was back in the tunnel he spoke. "Down here." They started moving down stairs that branched off from the main tunnel, it was a long way down and Maya grew tired fast but eventually they reached the bottom.

They were in a large tunnel much wider and shorter than the other one. He walked down it to the left and paused at a doorway.

"In here." He opened an iron door with a lever and waited for Maya to catch up, she hurried through.

They were in a small room that was taken up by a very big glass tank in the center. Maya saw dark, shadowy forms flickering behind the glass, she stepped closer, and suddenly light, light everywhere in the tank, horrible creatures sat on the other side of the glass. Half their bodies were in shadow and their multiple arms swirled and sparked with fire. Their faces were half in shadow as well, so all she could see were its black glinting eyes.

Horrible gasping noises where coming from them as they rose up in the air, their forms flickering with fire. Maya jumped as a fireball went straight towards her and tensed up, expecting it to break through the glass and hit her. She waited for it, with her eyes closed until she felt a hand on her shoulder, pulling her away from the glass. She opened her eyes and they were filled with light as fireball after fireball pummeled the glass in front of her. Laurent stepped in front of it, blocking out the terror,

"Come on." He tugged at her arm and pulled her through the door. Maya felt shaken up, and scared by those unfamiliar monsters.

"W-what where those?" Her voice was much shakier then she wanted it to be but she had never experienced a hostile mob like that before.

"We call them blazes, part shadow, part fire; they have the energy to shoot fire at their attacker. We have about a hundred of them in captive,"

"A hundred?" Maya echoed.

"Yes," he said looking at her. "Let's keep going." Maya felt weak and worried. 'What else was there? How much destruction would these Blazes cause? '

This time they went to the door on their right. This room was identical to the last, except something different in the glass. Maya stayed on the wall away from it, not wanting to experience fireballs in her face again. She didn't have to though, all they were, were black skeletons. They had stone swords and were trying to hit her but that was it. No fire no noises; in fact, no noises at all except the pang, pang, pang of the skeletons attempts at hitting her but hitting the glass instead.

"We have these in the Overworld, except white and they have bows." Maya spoke; turning to Laurent feeling much better that they couldn't do anything but fight with swords. "They are called skeletons."

But Laurent shook his head, "These are different, you can't see now because they can't get to you, but these are poisonous. If they hit you with their sword, you get Wither poison which is almost impossible to cure. You have ten seconds to live before you wither away and become one of them. They are extremely deadly."

Maya furrowed her brow and looked back at there open snarling mouths, 'ten seconds?' Her eyes scanned the tank. 'How many were in there? Two dozen? Fifty? How many people would die that easily?' Panic began to set in, what chance would they have against this? Laurent spoke, for a moment distracting her from her own terror.

"Come on," He was looking at Maya strange and Maya didn't know what to make of it. He opened the door and once again, they were in the hallway. "One more," He said turning to the door at the end of the hall. Maya found fear clawing away at her chest, 'more? What other demon mobs did they have?' She wanted to run, to go home, and to stop it all. But she didn't have a choice, so she followed him through the door.

This room was gigantic, almost cavern like; a huge glass dome was in the center, and it was empty as far as Maya could tell. Still, she wasn't so sure she wanted to get near it. Laurent pointed near the top of the dome towards white square clouds. Maya caught herself, clouds? There were definitely no clouds in the nether, she squinted and jumped as Laurent let out a loud whistle. Quickly, the odd clouds started to move closer to where she and Laurent were standing, she tensed up, wanting to close her eyes but she didn't. The clouds weren't clouds at all; they were pathetic looking puffs with tentacles hanging down beneath them.

As they got nearer she began to see that it looked as though they were crying, their closed eyes and sad mouth seemed very pitiful. They came nearer, and Maya was wondering what was the worst they could possibly do, when a horrible blood curdling scream shook the air. She jumped back as a large fireball was launched at the glass in front of her; another loud scream pierced the air followed by the blast as another explosion hit the glass. High pitched moans echoed throughout the cavern and Maya looked with frightened eyes at one of the cloud-things that now did not look pitiful at all.

Its red eyes gleamed with murderous rage, and its mouth was open, voicing those awful shrieks. Dozens more approached the glass and the ground shook from the explosions. The noises were awful, nothing had ever made Maya feel this scared, she shuddered with every explosion as she wished for the end of it. They sounded almost like children, the screams as if someone was torturing them.

She was crouched on the rough nether ground with her knees pulled to her chest, her hands clutching her ears, and her eyes squeezed shut. She didn't open her eyes, not until after Laurent had pulled her up with surprisingly gentle hands and walked her back out of the door.

She was trembling violently and not quite crying but taking very shaky panicky breaths. She sat on the ground of the hall for a long time, the clouds shrieks still in her head until she glanced up very panicky at Laurent, who was looking at her with that same, strange look.

(Character change)

Jade sat in the corner of a very small and smelly cell. Her eyes were downcast and focused on the word game she was scratching into the floor. She had almost beaten her previous score when the sound of large footsteps rang outside her cell. On the other side of the bars the nasty, drunken pigmen who had jailed her stood fumbling with keys in his hand grumbling about something. Jade stood up, abandoning her word game.

"About time," she said, crossing her arms, "I'm starving."

He just glared at her as he unlocked the doors. "You're supposed ter come with me." He spat out the words and obviously did not like saying them.

Jade narrowed her eyes suspiciously, though, he probably wouldn't be this grumpy if he was going to eat her, and she didn't thing pigmen were smart enough to come up with any plan to make her think he wasn't going to eat her, but really was. So instead she asked "Where are you taking me?"

He wrinkled his nose and said one single word that made Jade's heart leap for joy.

"Out."

(Time Skip)

Jade never thought that the Nether air could taste so good, she was out! She could go home! Home. She realized that she had not thought of her house when she said that but of Mathew's house. She felt a little guilty that this realization did not make her sad.

The sound of the palace doors opening behind her, made her reach for her non-existent sword and she felt a twinge of sadness for her lost weapon. She was prepared to make a run for it if they tried to lock her back up but it wasn't more pigmen. Well, it was but they were escorting Maya. They practically threw Maya on the ground outside and shut the doors behind them with a sharp crack. Jade did not feel particularly generous so (even though she should) she did not help Maya up.

But this wasn't the prim proper princess she had seen before. It wasn't even the scared, guilty one she had seen. Maya looked terrified, absolutely terrified, she had a crazed expression and Jade didn't think Maya realized it but she was trembling. Her normally blue eyes, twitched every way in alarm as she stumbled up to Jade.

"Y-you're okay?" That voice was not the princesses.

Jade swallowed and nodded.

The princess nodded back. "O-okay, we h-have to go b-back, w-we have to t-tell them."

"Tell them what?" Jade managed, now feeling very worried and much shaken. What had they done to her?

"T-to stop them, w-we have to warn them." Her water blue eyes quivered with tears. "Will you help me?"

Jade set her jaw and nodded, how could she not?

**End of chapter. Umm… Did you like? Did you hate? Tell me! Actually if you hate don't tell me because that could really mess with my self confidence. **** I was trying to make these Nether mobs scary, what did you think? Also, have you ever listened to ghast noises like on youtube? They are actually quite scary so just imagine that when reading the ghast part.**

**What else? Oh yeah I have a funny story to tell you people. So after I had typed up the rough draft on the chapter, I was editing it. So I was reading through, you know how that goes and this is what I saw.**

"**Maya stayed on the wall away from it, not wanting to experience forkballs in her **

**face again"**

**Did you catch that? Because I was laughing like crazy when I read it. Forkball? I couldn't figure out what a forkball was so I googled it, apparently it's a type of baseball pitch, who knew? Anyway, maybe it's just me who thinks it funny but thought I'd share.**

**Ehem, to my amazing reviewers.**

**Feedrag0n: Boa ideia, eu estou pensando em fazer sequelas e talvez um prequel. Eu só não sei ainda, mas boa idéia. E obrigado, como sempre. :D**

**BlackDragon: Thank you! And yes they were. **

**Mindblank: Hahahaha sorry, but you don't get to demand one. **** Here is one anyway. **

**What is else? Nothing, I've got nothing. Goodbye! Type to you later! **

**Over and Out!**

**-Bailey**


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